imzjustplayin

I was looking on craigslist and I found a very large range in pricing for a civic coupe. I've seen prices from $1000 to $8000 and have been told that I should pay no more than $3K for a civic '96 coupe, is this correct? Do the coupes go for more or less than the 4 door sedans? Which ones are the most pricy and least pricy? There was on civic going for $1000 ('93) but the owner's reasoning for it not running was because of a broken timing belt, that belt could have broken while it was running and then screwed up the engine for all I know..

When you buy a car, specifically a used one, do you check every detail of the car before purchasing or do you look at only a few things and then make an offer?

Apotheosis

My advice would be to look at absolutely everything on the car if you really want it. Check the engine, interior, exterior, and take it for a test drive. Check the blue book for the exact car you are looking for.

You were told right about the $3K. When looking at 96 civic coupes in general, in "good" condition (no major defects or repairs to be made) the car isnt worth more than $3K. Paying $8000 for one of these is absolutely ridiculous. In "excellent" condition (pretty much perfect, which almost never happens) the car isnt worth much more than about $3300.

Just check the blue book prices of the cars you look at to be sure the owner isnt trying to take more than the car is worth. If you think the price is good then go ahead and check everything out before you make a purchase

Jax99SI

Your right on the 3k thing if the car is tack ect ect.

but those cars for 8 grand you see most likely have around 10grand worth of mods thrown on it.

JUst look for what you want/need and be more specific,if its stock,then 3grand would be about where its at.

RS2 FAB

http://www.nada.com

NOFX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by imzjustplayin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was looking on craigslist and I found a very large range in pricing for a civic coupe. I've seen prices from $1000 to $8000 and have been told that I should pay no more than $3K for a civic '96 coupe, is this correct? Do the coupes go for more or less than the 4 door sedans? Which ones are the most pricy and least pricy? There was on civic going for $1000 ('93) but the owner's reasoning for it not running was because of a broken timing belt, that belt could have broken while it was running and then screwed up the engine for all I know..

When you buy a car, specifically a used one, do you check every detail of the car before purchasing or do you look at only a few things and then make an offer?</TD></TR></TABLE>
It really depends on the car.

Who's selling it is obviously going to play a part too.

Civics have interference heads. A '93 Civic with a broken timing belt for a grand is a HUGE rip off.

As far as what you check on the car, that also depends on the car and what it's going to be used for. If it's just a daily beater, I probably wouldn't care as much about the condition of the upholstery or body damage. I might not care if the A/C is totally busted. On a project car I might not care about a busted engine, as long as the body is in good condition.

What's your use for this car going to be? How picky are you?
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Apotheosis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My advice would be to look at absolutely everything on the car if you really want it. Check the engine, interior, exterior, and take it for a test drive. Check the blue book for the exact car you are looking for.

You were told right about the $3K. When looking at 96 civic coupes in general, in "good" condition (no major defects or repairs to be made) the car isnt worth more than $3K. Paying $8000 for one of these is absolutely ridiculous. In "excellent" condition (pretty much perfect, which almost never happens) the car isnt worth much more than about $3300.

Just check the blue book prices of the cars you look at to be sure the owner isnt trying to take more than the car is worth. If you think the price is good then go ahead and check everything out before you make a purchase</TD></TR></TABLE>
KBB and NADA aren't the best for judging a car's worth honestly. They can be helpful, but take the values with a grain of salt.

Say you find a '99 Honda Civic Si. It's been garaged it's entire life and the owner never really drove it much. It's stock, with only Honda upgrades such as a fog light kit and rear lip. A few OEM goodies. The car has a very low 20,000 miles on it.

That car would be worth more than $3,300.

Saying no Civic should be worth more in "excellent" condition is being incredibly vague.

Sure, had my mom bought a '96 Civic DX brand new from Honda and used it as a beater to drive 120+ miles each day... I could see how that would be cheaper. I probably wouldn't pay even $3,300 for that car though.

The OP needs to start looking at pricing of these cars. Maybe make an Excel file about it. Consider condition of the vehicle, mileage and who's selling it (dealer or private and does it have any sort of warranty). Take trim level and body into account too. Oh, and focus locally for the most part. Different areas might be flooded by Civics and have a much lower price average or other locations might have few Civics and their prices would reflect that too.

I wouldn't even consider any that have visible body damage if you want a good idea of what they go for.

RS2 FAB

god i hate that term interference/non-interference. if you want a non-interference motor, build yourself a turbocharged one

spray_bombed

got my 96 hx with 145k on in for $1800 ....but yeah, Honestly I wouldn't pay more than 2500 for a 96

Jeffzoom

I think I was ripped off a little for my car then, as around this time last year, I bought a 98' EX coupe with everything they were available with (I think) with the exception of ABS. It had 74k miles on it and was driven by a now graduated college student from age 16 til I got it. I was in pretty good condition, and had a low-end DEI alarm in there from the previous owners as they switched headunits. Got it for $4500 cash.
I keep telling myself I got a good deal, but DAMN that thing was COVERED in glitter....

civic4nick

i just got a 99 coupe with only 100k miles for 4000 cash...i paid a LITTLE more than i wanted, but its pretty clean...runs amazing

wrxrated03

my friend bought an eg6 for 900 at the impound lot... so im pretty sure you can pick up a 96 cheap out there too

Blzdeep

I got my 94 for 2500, it was completely stock and owned by old people, so i jumped on it. Id say 35 to 45 in GOOD shape. My buddy is selling a 90 Si w/ a zc and turbo for 35 obo hehe

SEgrnTeg

eh i got a 98 civic ex vtec with idle issues for $500. of course to later find out that the engine had been swapped for d16y7. had to replace ECU. other than that i think i got a steal for a project car...everything else works on it.

m0nee

In October of 06, I purchased a 96 EX coupe with an LS motor in it. It was recently stolen, and recovered a few days later. The spoon wheels on it was replaced with steelies, the ricer headlights were replaced with stocks, the intake was pulled along with the intake charge temp sensor and for some stupid reason, they took the Valve cover also.

So with the problems above, I picked it up for $1500. I already have an extra LS motor, so I just swapped the valve cover and pvc over to it, bought the intake charge temp sensor ($45), pieced together an intake with filter, replaced the damaged drivers side fender ($20), the steelies and the stock headlights didn't bother me, so over-all I spent $1565 on my 96 ex coupe with an LS swap.

NOFX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RS2 FAB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">god i hate that term interference/non-interference. if you want a non-interference motor, build yourself a turbocharged one </TD></TR></TABLE>
What?
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wrxrated03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my friend bought an eg6 for 900 at the impound lot... so im pretty sure you can pick up a 96 cheap out there too</TD></TR></TABLE>
A real EG6 for $900 in the US would be a deal. Or do you mean it was a CX, DX, Si or VX hatch?

Mashi2Choco

iTrader: (5)

does it matter if it is a coupe or hatch? because i heard 92-95 civic si hatch are hot and ppl are selling it from 3500 to 4500 when kbb shows that its only worth about 2500 to 3000 ??

Neekstar

i got my 94 hatch DX (stock) for 2600

imzjustplayin

I'm a bit worried because most of the prices I see vary. On one hand I'll see a '91 hatchback for $2500 and then see a '97 coupe for 2750 and I'm wondering, why is this '97 only 2750? I've never bought a car before, specifically used, if I was buying from a dealership I'd have no qualms haggling and inspecting the car and whatnot but with a seller on craigslist, I don't think this would be a possibility.

One idea I had was to first have the seller start the car and run it for 5 minutes, shifting the gears, trying the airconditioning, turning the wheels, what ever. Then I'd pop the hood, turn off the engine and wash down the engine bay with a hose, wait for it to dry somewhat and then move the car to see if any fluids leaked out of the car. I got this idea when I washed the engine bay of my Lexus because of mice, I moved the car to get it out of the sun and I saw coolant on the ground, mixed with what I believe is power steering fluid. (I believe I have been losing powersteering fluid and coolant)

NOFX

If I were making a list like this (to compare prices) I would include the following:

Year
Make/Model/Trim
Body Style
Seller (Private or Dealer)
Warranty
Miles
Modified or Stock
Title (Clean, Theft, etc.)

So you might end up with a list for one car sort of like this:

1998
Honda Civic EX
Coupe
Private
n/a
147,000
Modified
Clean

Plus the price, of course.

Everything like that can matter.

Chiodos

exactly^^^^The price's are going to very. It depends on the condition of the particular car and the value the owner holds to it.... You shouldn't have a problem inspecting the car from a private seller and if they do give you problems DONT buy it from them, easy as that! Inspect EVERYTHING and bring a friend! 2 sets of eyes are better than one!

imzjustplayin

So the guy I'm buying it from should have no qualms about me giving it a very thorough inspection?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/se...=5000

Seems to be very difficult to get a decent one in the $3000 range, I'm starting to question whether or not $3000 is reasonable for a '96-'00 model of civic. Though because of naivety to actually buying a car at a good/fair price, for all I know I could be looking at a really bad time to buying a car in my area as gas is already at $4.25 in some parts.

Also I was wondering, should I even consider a car with 150K+ miles on it? what about close to 200K miles?

Can you believe this?
http://www.empireautosalvage.com/store.asp.35.html

They're trying to sell it for $2500!


Modified by imzjustplayin at 3:52 PM 4/12/2008

Jax99SI

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by imzjustplayin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So the guy I'm buying it from should have no qualms about me giving it a very thorough inspection?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/se...=5000

Seems to be very difficult to get a decent one in the $3000 range, I'm starting to question whether or not $3000 is reasonable for a '96-'00 model of civic. Though because of naivety to actually buying a car at a good/fair price, for all I know I could be looking at a really bad time to buying a car in my area as gas is already at $4.25 in some parts.

Also I was wondering, should I even consider a car with 150K+ miles on it? what about close to 200K miles?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont think your going to get a 98-00 for 3000$
for 3000$ you should be lookin at the 92-95 range

Mr.Highlife

shop around dude,dont get your hopes up on 1 car
look for what you want in your price range..

I really focked up when i bought my ex
Stock,Auto,vtec,nice stereo,had cold A/C
and paid 4,300..

I thought auto 4dr would keep me out of trouble
racing on the streets (i know this topic is very sensitive)
but im tuning it anyways just sucks its an automatic
but its cool and it's growin on me.

LwdJdmR

seriously shop around.

i got my civic dx no a/c, no power steering, no honk, didnt realize the motor was swapped (still d16y7) and a useless 3" intake for $3000 ohhh but he throw in some 17" konig wheels.



i was dumb and young. just keep looking. trust me that lil bit of effort for loking will payoff

imzjustplayin

Is the price for the VX/HX trims really valid?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/se...ddTwo=
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/se...k=max
Not only are there not very many of them, but they're quite a bit more than the 3000 I was told. Would it be more cost effective for me to get a VX/HX engine + tranny and put it into the shell of any other model?


Modified by imzjustplayin at 4:42 PM 4/14/2008

mastakmk

you got enough feedback....

make sure its legit im sure someone said.
3k is high mark yes.
check ur fluids.. maybe even have a shop look at it if ur not mechanicly inclined.